He defined me first, as parents do. Those early characterizations can become the shimmering self-image we embrace or the limited, stifling perception we rail against for a lifetime.

You have to speak your dream out loud.

And it occurs to me that maybe the reason my mother was so exhausted all the time wasn’t because she was doing so much but because she was feeling so much.

Raising people is not some lark. It's serious work with serious repercussions. It's air-traffic control. You can't step out for a minute; you can barely pause to scratch your ankle.

Appreciation is the purest,strongest form of love. It is the outward-bound kind of love that asks for nothing and gives everything.

How seriously can I take myself? I'm just one of six billion people, right?

The mother is the most essential piece on the board, the one you must protect. Only she has the range. Only she can move in multiple directions. Once she's gone, it's a whole different game.

We're never ready for the things that happen. When the big stuff happens, we're always looking in the other direction.

That to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages--becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors.

I am an average mother in almost every way, so yes, much to my regret, I do yell at my children.

I didn't know adults could be changed. I thought they were finished pieces, baked through and kiln dried.

Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas" - "Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses

Nothing forces us to know What we do not want to know Except pain

Of course a picture can lie, but only if you are not honest with yourself.

I think every good song tells a story, as ambiguous and vague as it may be. And if you know what a song is talking about, it can only help your performance.

John Paul II was one of the greatest men of the last century. Perhaps the greatest.

Love renders all our plans and all our intentions a great big gamble.

An attitude of gratitude creates blessings.

Doing great requires that we become great people, and all of us can become great people.

How could you get angry with Jackie Gleason?

Greatness comes to those who develop a burning desire to achieve high goals.